One leading advocate called 2011 an “epic” year for marriage equality. Was it? While only one state — New York — enacted full marriage rights for same-sex couples, it was the most populous state to do so. Five other states also moved closer to marriage equality than ever before. Public opinion shifted dramatically towards supporting equality. And the Obama administration announced that it no longer considers a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act constitutional.

The White House held a high-visibility conference on bullying prevention March 10, while members of Congress introduced several LGBT-inclusive bills designed to address bullying and harassment of students.

Members of Congress are introducing a flurry of bills this week designed to address bullying and harassment of students, including LGBT students, and timed to coincide with a major White House conference on bullying prevention on Thursday.

A series of court cases in the past two months shows that the right of lesbian and gay people to be recognized as parents is still very much open to challenge — and one legal expert says the challenges will increase.

Two New Hampshire legislators have introduced bills to repeal the state’s marriage equality law, even though Republican leaders said that such a repeal is not a party priority in 2011. And several other states saw legislative moves toward or away from equality in the past week.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Thursday announced proposed new regulations intended to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in its core housing programs — programs that impact 4.4 million units of housing across the country.